The regime forces carry out counter attacks in the vicinity of Harasta in conjunction with violent aerial, artillery and rocket shelling and more human losses raise the number of the civilian casualties to 77
The violent attack started by Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham and the Islamic movement of Ahrar Al-Sham on the outskirts of Harasta and its vicinity, completed today the 4th of January 2018 its first week, through which they managed to impose a siege on the Vehicle Department located within Harasta – Arbin – Madyara Triangle, and this week witnessed intensive shelling by hundreds of missiles believed to be ground-to-ground, and artillery, tanks, mortar and rocket shells, which caused great material damage to the infrastructure of the targeted areas, and resulted in the death and the injury of tens of citizens, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented today the death of a citizen woman and the injury of 7 others in the shelling by the regime forces on areas in Harasta city, while a citizen died in Misraba town raising to 20, the number of casualties in the massacre of Misraba including 9 citizen women and 2 children, thus,
the death toll has increased to 77 persons at least including 18 children and 17 citizen women, the number of people killed due to the aerial, artillery and rocket shelling on cities and town in the Eastern Ghouta since the 29th of December 2017 and until now, and the casualties are 53 citizens including 13 children, 14 citizen women and a male nurse, they were killed in raids by the warplanes on areas in Harasta city controlled by the Islamic movement of Ahrar Al-Sham and raids on Madyara town, and 24 citizens including 5 children and 3 citizen women and 2 male nurses were killed by artillery and rocket shelling targeted areas in Beit Sawa town, the cities of Harasta, Hamuriya, Douma and Arbin as well as the towns of Kafr Batna, Mesraba, Al-Nashabiyah and Otaya, and the aerial and artillery shelling left tens of casualties and wounded included a large number of children and citizen women, and the number of casualties may increase because of the presence of serious injuries.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that this violent fighting is still continuing between the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them against Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham and the rebel and Islamic factions, in which it is concentrated in areas in the vicinity of Harasta city and near the governorate building as well as other nearby areas, amid intensive exchange of targeting in the clash areas between the both parties, and amid shelling by tens of artillery and rocket shelling as well as bombardment by warplanes by about 10 raids targeted areas in Harasta city in conjunction with artillery shelling hit Arbin city and its outskirts, and the regime forces are trying to achieve advancement at the expense of the factions and open a corridor leading to the Vehicle Department from the vicinity of Harasta city, where the regime forces are carrying out counter attacks enable them to impose their control over the area and regain the control of what they had lost, and to lift the siege imposed on the Vehicle Department, and this fighting near Harasta coincided with violent clashes between the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them against the fighters of Jaysh Al-Islam, in areas in the vicinity of Al-Nashabiyah town in Al-Marj area, as a result of a violent and surprising attack by the fighters of the latter seeking to advance in the area, while Jaysh Al-Islam targeted the regime forces by tens of missiles and artillery shelling, amid ongoing violent fighting in an attempt to achieve advancement in the area.
And the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published yesterday that the number of the members of the regime forces and their allied militiamen who were killed in the shelling and the clashes in the Eastern Ghouta, has increased to 44 members at least, including 6 officers at least including 4 brigadiers, while it rose to 47, the number of fighters of the factions who were killed in the same clashes, also tens of both parties were injured with varying severity, while 10 members at least of the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them were captured during the fighting and the hit-and-run clashes.